ahhhh, there you are!

alaska finally came out of hiding just in time to head over to seldovia...

and away we go.....

well, on the ferry, not the fishing boat in front of us...

first up, the official ferry jam session that kicks off the festival...had a ball...

paul thompson & robin hopper

festival director susan mumma

SELDOVIA, ALASKA!!

the tides here are pretty extreme, with the full moon it's about a 22 foot difference...

first eagle spotted was, well, spotted....a young 'un

mom (or maybe dad) still looks pretty spectacular even at a long distance...hope to get closer shots tomorrow...

here's the sound crew, veda, dan & sadi...dan's also a hellacious jazz pianist and will be performing tonight.

sound check with moira smiley and VOCO...amazing harmonies, can't wait for their set

to be continued.....

listening to paul kelly - ways and means

finished watching hbo's carnivale....liked it right up til the big "huh"?

Alaska!....uh, Alaska?...anybody home?

dateline : homer, alaska

so, anchorage and now homer have been pretty much covered in clouds since i got here a couple of days ago...

...wait a minute...i think i see something peeking through...

...make that "peaking" through...

alrighty then...on the boat and over to the festivities in seldovia tomorrow...

listening to paul simon so beautiful or so what ......repeatedly....what an album!

quick, somebody call "this old house"!

dateline: santa fe


...since i can't be at the kerrville festival this weekend with my songsmithin' buddies i decided to do something useful.  so i built me a fence.  i had a gas meter visible from the living room window in the house we're trying to sell.  now who's gonna buy a house where you can see the gas meter from the living room wndow?  so i got me some logs (well, kindling, really ), and a hammer and some nails & twine...why, i even grabbed my trusty hatchet and split one of the logs to make a crossbeam and didn't lose a single appendage...yup, me and ol' honest abe...a couple of fence building, rail splittin' fools...

yessir, it's a mighty fence.....a mighty...small fence...but a mighty nice fence

so i ask ya....see any gas meters out my window now?  didn't think so.

listening to robbie robertson - how to become clairvoyant

also gotten hooked on the old HBO series carnivale

lions & tigers & red sox (oh my)

dateline: new england


my late father and i never really saw eye to eye on much of anything...
but when i was a kid we did share a love of three things: loony toons, the zoo at roger williams park in providence and the mostly mired in last place at the time boston red sox...


to this day the expression "you're dithhhspicable" will still bring tears of laughter...
i thought of the old man a few times while back in new england this weekend.
first up..........


FENWAY PAHK!!!!!!!

my childhood hero ~ ted williams

haven't been here since 1975...got the same rush walking up the ramp...

...and seeing the green monster!

some of the tools of the trade

just another one of those weirdly juxtaposed sports moments....a buddhist monk behind me was trying to get seattle mariners rightfielder ichiro suzuki's attention during batting practice...he kept saying "thank you" to everyone around him...you are welcome.

on the mound for the sox was knuckleballer tim wakefield.  never seen a knuckleball pitcher up close.....damn, the ball really does dance all over the place....

kid number one was having a great time...

as was kid number 2...

david ortiz (AKA big papi) drove in the first 2 sox runs

seattle went on to tie the game.....it was up to jonathan paplebon to hold them off.

jeez, that stare even had me scared....

bottom of the 9th....runner on third...carl crawford at the plate...carl's batting .124....."here we go again", i think....just like when i was a kid...crawford swings...

base hit up the middle!  runner scores!

the sox win!!!!

the old man would have loved it.  ah, good ol' fenway park

probably the only park where they still climb a ladder to change the scoreboard...

next up....they tell me it's all happening at the zoo.

listening to paul simon  ~  so beautiful or so what

and ye shall know them by their tchotchkes...

dateline: santa fe


ok, in a zen world there are no attachments...
so, nobody's perfect.  not in this room, anyway.


here are some small things i'm happy to get to look at when i'm home.
take the little smiles where you can find 'em...

the top of the left speaker

the top of the right speaker

jono's chicken alarm/with coy penguin (from the manson collection)

conundrum with sunflowers

to be continued...

listening to:  david francey -  first set: live from folk alley

an undocumented soup

dateline: santa fe, nm


(because sometimes the camera is all the way on the other side of the room)


a nice ginger / carrot soup from cooks.com 


ingredients:
  3/4 stick unsalted butter
  1/4 cup finely chopped ginger root (i used a little less)
  7 c. chicken stock
  1 1/2 c. carrots, peeled, in 1/2 inch pieces
  Pinch curry powder
  1 lg. chopped onion
  3 cloves garlic
  1 c. dry white wine
  2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  snipped fresh chives or parsley (if you got it)


melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat.  add onion, ginger
and garlic.  saute for 15 - 20 minutes.  add stock, wine and carrots.  heat
to boiling.  reduce heat and simmer uncovered over medium heat until 
carrots are tender, about 45 minutes.  Puree the soup in batches, in a blender 
or food processor.  (or your trusty immersion blender...i'm tellin' ya)
season with lemon juice, curry powder and salt & pepper.  sprinkle a little chive or parsley. serve hot or chilled.
with a big ol' salad. 


i don't think this kid would have liked the soup.  or the salad for that matter...


kindergarten, i think...

listening to greg trooper popular demons

cadillac ranch

dateline: amarillo, texas


way back in 1974, an eccentric helium millionaire named stanley marsh 3 hired a california art collective known as the ant farm to bring his homage to the golden age of automobiles, tail fins & route 66 to life on an amarillo, texas dirt farm.


it was created by ant farm members chip lord, hudson marquez and doug michels and consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of early Cadillacs; the tail fin) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the great pyramid of giza in egypt.  (thanks, wikipedia)


i've been passing by it for years and finally decided on a closer look.

too cool!!

when you get up close you realize that they're pretty much held together by generations of spray paint...

man, i just LOVE this stuff!!!!!

listening to neil young le noise